Chris De Burgh returned to an Irish stage on Saturday night to a full house in the INEC for a solo performance celebrating all his best-known hits over the past 30 years.
The set reflected his evolution as a singer songwriter over the years from his embryonic performances in Captain America’s in Grafton Street in the early 70’s with his earlier trademark story songs to the big production numbers of the 80’s to the more recent romantic songs and anti war themes.
The epic tales of the Christmas favourite A Spaceman Came Travelling, Spanish Train, the burlesque activities of Patricia the Stripper to the romantic worldwide hit and housewives anthem Lady in Red, Missing You, the comforting Carry Me to the songs from his new album Songs of Freedom. One of the stand out tracks and performances for me was a tribute by Chris called Songbird, to the late Eva Cassidy a lady born with the voice of an angel who tragically died of cancer before her career blossomed whose vocal performances continue to create a profound moving experience to listeners belatedly and attract a world wide audience posthumously.
During Lady in Red the spotlight focussed on a beautiful tanned Lady sitting beside me wearing a stunning red dress who was clearly captivated by her idol on stage. I knew she had devotedly gone to all his concerts in Ireland and England since the early 80’s, had all the concert ticket stubs proudly displayed in a large frame at home, I knew she had bought the red dress for the concert and especially for Chris but what really made be proud was the fact that she was my Lady Irene and that she was coming home with me tonight. It was a win win for everybody ha ha as the guy say’s in the Simpson’s.
This was Chris De Burgh’s only Irish appearance in a world tour that had just finished a string of dates in Germany and is heading to Canada next for this Irishman who has sold over 50 million albums and continues to have an enduring appeal all around the world.Chris used a absolutely brilliant sounding dark blue solid body 12 string guitar, custom made I believe in the Guitar Factory in Florida and piano in a performance that sounded technically flawless and the songs lost none of their identity being stripped down to the bare essentials in fact Chris unrestrained by a band on stage made the atmosphere sound spontaneously infectious allowing him to work the audience at his own pace.
This freedom soon created a genuine mutual rapport and affinity with the loyal fans mostly good-looking thirty-something’s bringing flowers, chocolates and even a bottle of his favourite wine up to him between songs. Chris is well known for his love of fine wine having once drank a full bottle of 1945 Chateau Lafitte as soon as he arrived home after the birth of his youngest son.
His songs are introduced with the theme and inspiration, described very clearly and humorously with each song painting a visual sound track of the events. Here For You is a good example of a song he introduced describing that family anxiety when a grown up child, in this case his famously beautiful daughter Rosanna crowned Miss World in 2003, leaving home for an experience abroad and the very real mixed bag of emotions, pride, joy, sadness, worry that airport experience and event brings to mind for parents.
One of the great things about live concerts like this is listening to members of the audience around me singing along passionately with fragments of the lyrics of their favourite song, a song that was not only happening on stage in the present but was also an association with personal events in their own past, a soundtrack from good times in life that binds the artist and fan intimately together past, present and future.
He belted out rockers like High on Emotion and Don’t Pay the Ferryman and lifted the roof off metaphorically with a Beatle medley Hard Day’s Night, Oblidi Oblida, and swept us away with his version of Hey Jude that revealed his vocal range and just how good an entertainer he is on stage, it was like listening to his hero Paul McCartney.When he looked for some dancers a group of aerobically inclined fans arrived at the front of the stage to engage in a type of free form dancing and bopped away to their hearts content, unsurprising tossing a big old pair of red panties on stage that had me wondering was Brigit Jones in the audience as well tonight.
Chris and Family had earlier enjoyed the scenic delights of this visitor friendly county telling us about his trip out to the folk museum in the 19th century Muckross House and Gardens renowned for its world calibre botanical collections, the remarkably friendly locals and the mist pronounced “mished” that descends like a cloud around you as you drive along the mountain roads.
Kerry is a fantastic place to visit and the spirit of friendliness and welcome as you walk around the streets of Killarney is palpable and a wonderful credit to the people of the area.He was quiet happy to talk about his ups and downs and acknowledge his much publicised indiscretion of the past and accepted that the halo had slipped and the fans loudly reassured him that they remained unswayed, because just like the mistakes of any member of a family they had also dealt with it and moved on which is the survival dynamic of family life the world over. He did however have a few sharp words also welcomed by rapturous applause for the anonymous type O negative media critics, letting us know for their benefit, that he was still alive and well, not divorced and happily getting on with his life, with his wife Diane and kids who were all in the audience and clearly delighted to see Chris doing what he does best. When the show was over they mingled with the fans and consented willingly to have pictures taken in their company. On the way out we bought the new CD Road to Freedom from the youngest member of the family.
What these tabloid crucifixion merchants don’t understand is the glue that exists between an artist and his audience, the relationship that grows and strengthens into a channel of mutual support, excitation and satisfaction over time.
Having read the unsubtle sensationalistic rubbish tabloid style article in the Irish Independent that afternoon I knew exactly how he felt, and I am constantly bemused to what end these celebrity career attacks serve other than to attract the attention of the Church’s priest recruitment division to target this group of scribes in our society for enlistment to the priesthood, with their obvious morally impeccable, faultless and immaculate credentials.
Hey guys say what you mean, mean what you say but please do not be so mean when you say it, as the wise old saying goes.
Chris De Burgh had the satisfaction when he walked off stage that he had worked hard tonight and if their was a fragile and weak uncertainty about pulling off a one man show after all these years away from an Irish Stage, it was put to flight immediately after witnessing him taking his Wireless Microphone Headset and 12 String Electric around the auditorium playing and shaking hands with the audience who patted him on the back, laughed, cried and screamed as he moved through the aisles of fans. Those ecstatic moments for a fan when the world stops and sparkles like a star right before your eyes and, fades back into reality gently like a melting snowflake.
The Gleneagles INEC venue, it most be said is excellent with the stage easily within view from any angle and the PA superbly distributing the sound as clearly as if you were sitting in front of a sound system at home but the most refreshing observation was the courtesy and polite efficiency of the INEC staff who unobtrusively went about their business in marked contrast to the jumped up cattle drovers I am regularly confronted with in the Point and similar sized events in Dublin over the years.
Mick Kenny aka MTW
